


Autumn

by yukaris



Series: NCT Fairy Tale! AUs [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angst, Flowers, M/M, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 03:31:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10324661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukaris/pseuds/yukaris
Summary: A butterfly goes on a search for his flower. Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's The Butterfly.





	

Once there was a young butterfly, he was called Johnny. He had a beautiful pair of wings, that he was proud of, he was beautiful than most of his butterfly friends. He should have been happy as he flew across the green meadows amidst the freshness of early spring, but alas, that was not so. Johnny was lonely, most of his friends had already found the flowers suitable for them and claimed them, now it seemed that they didn't have time to play with Johnny anymore, spending their time with their beloved flowers. Johnny couldn't blame them, it was spring, the most ideal time for them to find their soulmate flowers and the flowers in full bloom were the most exquisite at this time of the year, so he could understand the situation. But that didn't mean he was happy to be left out all by himself.

 

So he decided, once and for all, that he would go in search for a soulmate too. Who knows, maybe he could finally find the flower that was meant for him, his soulmate who would solely be by his side every side, someone who could capture his heart and keep it safely forever. The thought filled his heart with excitement and hope. So he set out to find his flower.

 

Johnny flew towards the forest and he met the newly bloomed wild flowers, while some were still just budding. Johnny had heard about wild flowers being a little brash and difficult to impress, and here he found nothing less. Johnny was young but he had manners, and he didn't like those flowers who were audacious and Johnny would surely go crazy if he had to spend a whole life listening to them so he knew that he wouldn't find his soulmate among one of them. But this was only the start, Johnny wouldn't give up so easily.

 

So Johnny thought he would look at the vast gardens that rich humans used to own on their backyard. Johnny especially liked those, because humans always had just beautiful taste and there were so many varieties of them. The garden had all kinds of flowers ranging from roses to honeysuckle. He didn't like roses because they were so vain. Daisies were kind but a little naive and sensitive.

 

Johnny saw a freshly bloomed honeysuckle among them, it was beautiful and looked proud, smiling brightly at the sun. Johnny quickly flew over to talk to the honeysuckle which gave him an exuberant smile. Johnny thought that this one would suit him just fine, besides he had spent the whole spring searching and flying so now that the spring was ending, Johnny needed to find his flower before autumn.

 

"I'm Doyoung." The honeysuckle smiled shyly when Johnny asked for his name. "You have come from a faraway land, I see, are you in search of your soulmate?" Johnny replied yes, a little surprised by Doyoung's bluntness which was not something he was used to, though it was not unkind. Maybe Johnny didn't need to work hard to impress him after all, Doyoung could read the situation very well.

 

Just then another butterfly appeared and sat over the honeysuckle who in return chuckled and gave him a lively greeting. It must have been his imagination but Johnny was sure that the new butterfly was glaring at him, Johnny didn't understand why.

 

"Stay away from my Doyoung. He's mine." The new butterfly said to him, Johnny finally understood. So Doyoung was already taken, that explained why he'd been bursting with enthusiasm. Johnny wished it wasn't that way, he and Doyoung would have been a beautiful pair.

 

"Shut up, Yuta. Johnny is looking for a soulmate. I'm trying to help him." Doyoung chided the butterfly or Yuta, as he was called. Well, if Doyoung could help him then it wasn't all that bad, Johnny thought.

 

Doyoung showed him some of his friends who still hadn't been claimed by any butterfly, but unfortunately no one caught Johnny's attention. They were beautiful, without a doubt, but they lacked the lustre and uniqueness that Johnny was looking for. Johnny had to look somewhere else.

 

When he told this to Doyoung, he looked sad. Even Yuta who had finally been convinced that Johnny didn't want to steal Doyoung away from him, looked sorry as they couldn't help him. Johnny bid him goodbye, unsure of where to go, he could always go east, but that would take time and it was nearly summer.

 

"Wait. I think I know where you need to look!" Yuta said just when he was about to leave. "There's a small meadow not very far from here. I've heard about the flowers there, that they are beautiful and they have sweet fragrance. Surely, you'll find your soulmate there." Johnny mulled over Yuta's suggestion, he didn't think Yuta was someone he could trust so very fast, but it was better than nothing, besides, flying east was tedious and the meadow Yuta mentioned was closer. Johnny agreed to look there once.

 

 

Johnny wasn't very hopeful, if he were to be honest. The meadow was small and all the flowers were of the same kind, bright yellow, but they were nice. They were nothing special though. But just when he was about to give up the idea of finding himself a flower here, he saw a flower, which was undeniably the most beautiful flower he'd ever laid his eyes on.

 

The flower was a zinnia, with fragile looking petals, but he had an air of dignity and though he was beautiful he didn't seem as vain as the roses, he was smiling and laughing with his other friends, Johnny realized that why he looked so special was because he was the only red zinnia among all the plain looking yellow ones and pansies. 

 

His friends were urging him to sing, Johnny was curious so he flew closer where he could hear him but still wouldn't notice, as he was still a little shy to approach the flower, he had never felt that way when he saw Doyoung, this time he wanted to make sure that he didn't repeat the same mistake again. The idea of the flower being already taken troubled him much more than necessary, and Johnny realized that maybe he was starting to fall in love.

 

The flower sang beautifully, unaware of Johnny who was still listening to him and was mesmerized by his voice. The pansy that he had been hiding behind gave him a knowing smile that Johnny didn't like. Then the flower smiled a breathtaking smile that made him a little dazed and the pansy must have noticed because she laughed. "His name is Taeil. Isn't he a beauty?" She whispered carefully so that others wouldn't know. Taeil, Johnny smiled. He'd spend the whole spring looking for him, but he finally found him, in the beginning of the summer, when the air was getting warmer and grasses were getting greener.

 

 

Johnny came to see Taeil every day after that, but he was always too scared to talk to him. What if Taeil didn't like him, he was getting older and he was not the brightest of his kind, what if he didn't want to be claimed by Johnny because he thought there were other butterflies who were surely much better looking and younger than him. But there could be no one else more beautiful and worthy than Taeil, Johnny thought. Oh! How relieved he had been when the same pansy told him other day Taeil had still not been claimed by any butterfly. He still had a chance, but he was so scared.

 

 

Much to his chagrin, the pansy forced him into flying over to Taeil. He didn't have much time, she said. Johnny didn't know what she meant by that, but Johnny obliged because when would he ever find the courage if he didn't do it now. Taeil stared at him curiously. Johnny introduced himself, but he might have stuttered a little, he wasn't sure. Taeil smiled at him nevertheless and it still made him a little giddy even though he should have gotten used to it for he had been watching that smile secretly for a while now.

 

 

Taeil easily accepted him as a friend, but Johnny was contented. He didn't want to tell him that he loved him and wanted to make him his own forever, because what if Taeil didn't love him the way he loved him. Johnny felt insecure and it was new because he had never felt that before. In fact, Taeil made him feel a lot of things for the first time and it was unfair that Taeil was seemingly oblivious of all that Johnny felt.

 

 

Taeil grew easily accustomed to his company, though. He loved listening to Johnny's stories about the places he'd been to, about Doyoung and Yuta who seemed so happy to be together and the wild flowers who nagged at him like he was their son, about all the beautiful flowers he'd seen in his life.

 

"Of course, none of them were as beautiful as you though." He would make a lame effort to impress him once in a while, and he was proud of himself when Taeil blushed and presented him with a shy smile.

 

However, Johnny was getting anxious by the day. The summer was going to end soon and he was getting older and so was Taeil, their time was limited and Johnny didn't want to part with Taeil ever. Taeil probably knew that too, because now he rarely smiled, and even if he did it was a poignant smile that made Johnny even sadder.

 

 

One day, Johnny finally decided to tell Taeil that he loved him and even if their time was so short, they could still be happy for the rest of their lives. It didn't even matter whether he loved him or not, because if Taeil could smile at him just the way he did before then Johnny thought he wouldn't mind, being with Taeil was enough and Taeil not knowing about his love seemed unfair, to both of them.

 

 

Johnny didn't know how to confess though, so he thought of asking his friends Doyoung and Yuta who he had been visiting continuously ever since he met Taeil and he had grown a little fond of Yuta as well. They knew about his little predicament, and they would always tease him about him but they were actually very much supportive. 

 

 

It was raining, the kind of rain that comes with thunder and lightning marking the end of summer, that meant the autumn was closer. Soon Johnny regretted coming to the garden, at this point he didn't care if he didn't know what to say or do, he just wanted to be with Taeil. Doyoung and Yuta looked gloomy and gave him a small, sad smile. Johnny felt miserable looking at them, because their time was ending too.

 

 

The raindrops hit hard on his frail wings, he was fully drenched and unlike Yuta who had hid under Doyoung's petals (though it was of no help), he had nowhere to go. He was too tired to fly over to Taeil in this rain and he would give anything to be covered by Taeil's soft petals, because he knew he'd be safe with Taeil. 

 

But his fate was cruel and his life was unfair. He still wanted to fly over to Taeil no matter what. He couldn't get farther as a human came trudging to the garden wearing a heavy raincoat. The human saw Johnny and seemed to have taken pity on him as he disappeared only for a second to bring a jar. Johnny struggled but with his current state, it was futile.

 

 

He was safe in the jar, it was warm and enough space to breathe, but he still hated being there. But he knew that this was the end of his story, he would never meet Taeil now and Taeil would never know how much Johnny loved him. He would never know how happy he could have been. If only Johnny had been braver, they could have been together now.

 

 

There was no point in lamenting now, Johnny knew that his life is moving away from him, he was happy that he met his soulmate, and all the moments he shared with Taeil were what he was going to cherish until his last breath. In another life, if there should be one, he’d not be so stupid and he'd tell Taeil how much he loves him every single day.

 

 

 

The rain stops at the along with the rise of the sun, when Johnny, the butterfly who had grown old, takes his last breath.

 

 

 

The autumn arrives along with the cold breeze and grass turns brown and flowers die tragically.

 

 

Taeil misses Johnny who had filled his summer with lame jokes and unusual stories. He misses Johnny, who disappeared without any kind of notice, leaving nothing but a single trace of himself in his heart. Johnny who never knew that Taeil had grown to love him so much.

 

 

Taeil gets more and more depressed. And without Johnny, he doesn't smile anymore.

 

 

After a few days into the winter, Taeil wilts and falls, his wish to see Johnny one last time never coming true.

 

**Author's Note:**

> pls forgive me i actually dont know anything about flowers


End file.
